STAR WARS EPISODE VIII - A NEW ORDER

Return of the Jedi

Nearly 14 years later, Luke Skywalker stood with the same grief and despair in his sunken and defeated eyes. He stood on this island, surrounded by a mass of lush green grass, and a rocky terrain. Behind him stretched a pristine and mighty ocean, with the bright blueness only ending when the ocean touched with the blueness of the sky. He stood face to face with a girl, holding out an object in a somewhat plea.

The girl had a defined face, dark brown hair and brown eyes. Despite being alone on this island for so long, and despite the girl having no recollection of any connection to Luke Skywalker, he knew why she was here, and he was not shocked to see her. This was the same girl all those years ago - Rey, who survived the onslaught of the barbaric brutes who viciously murdered Luke's Jedi students at the once promising Jedi Academy. However she did not know this fact, and Luke was not ready to let her know it either. The object which she held out was his lightsaber. His first lightsaber. The lightsaber which his father held before him, which had gone through so much in its history. Luke was quite shocked to see it. He had lost it many years ago when his hand was severed at the hands of his father - Darth Vader, and it had fell into the deep dark depths of Cloud City. The girl was looking at him in a desperate way, however Luke, who had had his mind so confined to himself for so long, was not ready to have any affiliation to her.

He placed his hood back over his head and stepped towards her. He took the lightsaber out of her hand and walked away, without saying a word, or any sort of communication for that matter. Rey was evidently surprised. She wasn't sure what she had expected to happen, but it certainly wasn't this. He walked very fast, she noticed as she hurried after him.

"Hey!" She shouted, struggling to keep up with him. "Where are you going?" She said in a panicky way. 'Panicky' was somewhat of an understatement for how she felt. How could Luke Skywalker just walk away from her, when the fate of the Galaxy rested on his shoulders? "Excuse me?" She continued, still following him. He gave no evidence that he was listening to her. "Mr. Skywalker? Luke...?"

Luke continued walking until he arrived at a small little stone house, built into the side of the rock. Rey followed him inside. She looked around at the small home, and saw only the simplistic living arrangement. There was a stove, a tatty bed, and she noticed numerous etchings on the rocky wall. He had his back turned to her, fidgeting with something she couldn't see. She decided to speak up once more.
"You need to listen me. The Resistance needs your help. T-the First Order have destroyed the Hosnian System. There is essentially no Republic anymore, no government. There is no stability, the Galaxy is at war and we need you help." She pleaded. He still wasn't taking any notice of her. Rey was struggling now, and fretting slightly.
"Umm... Ok, let me start again. I haven't even introduced myself. My name is-"
"Rey".
"What? H-how do you know my name..." Rey asked, completely and utterly bewildered.
Still facing the opposite direction, Luke lifted his head slightly, and begun to speak.
"I know a lot of things. Too many things in fact." Rey was breathing heavily at his words. The awe surrounding this man was overwhelming. He continued, "I can sense it in you. I can feel it in you. It is strong in you." He turned to face her and looked straight into her eyes. Rey was overcome with an emotion she could not describe. It could have been nervousness, it could have been shock, she wasn't sure. "You have kind eyes." He said, in a somewhat matter-of-fact way. He once again tuned away from her as he continued talking. "But regardless of all that, I can't help you. Sorry." He looked down on the lightsaber sitting on the table. "Thanks for returning that, I'm not sure how you got it, but that's besides the point. You're wasting your time here, you can leave now." As though she had already left, Luke began once again carrying on with whatever he was doing, and from Rey's point of view it was merely fussing around objects just for that sake of it.

"No. You can't just...reject me like this." Luke did not stir at her words, so she stood up straighter and decided to try a new tactic. "All my life I've heard stories. Stories, tales, myths, legends of a warrior. A warrior that was brave, fearless, and he went by the name of Luke Skywalker. He battled evil, he conquered evil, and he brought about balance to the galaxy. He was the last known Jedi. All those stories told of a great, brave and courageous man. But...I suppose those stories were wrong. I'm not looking at a warrior. I'm looking at a coward."
At that final word Luke stopped dead in his movements. He walked up to her and looked her straight in the eyes, and the words he spoke were spoken with a hint of malice and also pain.
"A coward? Oh you have no idea. For years after the fall of the Empire, I was searching for just something, something that would ease the pain that I had suffered. In my life I have experienced so many things; pain..." He looked towards his mechanical hand..."anguish, suffering, torture, death, horror... I was looking for a way out of all of that. So I started a Jedi Academy. In doing this I was expecting my dreams to be realised, to find some success, but in reality, I found something infinitely worse than my very worst nightmares. You talk of a Jedi? The Jedi do not exist anymore. The Jedi deal with peace, tranquility and balance, I don't deal with those things. The Jedi reside on the light side of the force. I'm no Jedi."
"W-what do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?" Rey asked, stuttering.
"You know what I'm trying to tell you. You can sense it. I know you can sense it. Tell me. Tell me what I mean." Luke said. At this order a non-existent switch flicked on inside the head of Rey. She gathered her thoughts and emotions, and closed her eyes, attempting to find a way into Luke's head. Using the force, she could sense his inner turmoil.
"I sense conflict. There's a conflict between the Light and the Dark. There's hate, anguish and despair. There's failure and a tortured mind." Rey explained.
Luke knew she was right, and nodded. However he was caught unexpected by what she continued to say.
"But there's more. There's inner hope and there always has been. You were waiting for someone to find you, because deep down you know you can win. You were waiting...for me..." She looked incredulously at Luke. How could he have been waiting for her? She decided to continue; "You know you can bring balance back. Please come with me. The galaxy needs you. The force needs you. Your sister needs you. I need you."
"You?" Luke asked. He wasn't shocked when she told him that she need him, he was merely curious at what her answer would be.
"I was waiting my entire life for my family to come back for me. They never did. They abandoned me and never returned. But then I finally found someone. Someone who gave me hope. He gave me confidence and he gave me some sort of meaning and purpose. He acted like a parent to me. But then he was took away from me, ripped away!" She began to produce tears, and she spoke with emotion, straight from her heart. "I know you've felt it. Han Solo is dead. He was killed! So are you just going to sit here, intertwined in your own head and feeling sorry for yourself, or are you going to come with me and avenge his death! And build the Jedi Order once more, because Luke, whether you believe it or not you are a Jedi. We need to fight, and defeat the First Order. Train me, I know I'm strong in the force. We, along with the Resistance can join together, and avenge the death of Han Solo, and get revenge on the evil brute of a human, Kylo Ren."
The name sent a shudder down the spine of Luke. He once again turned away from her to think. He stared at the blank stone wall in front of him. He couldn't help, he just knew it. He was ready to reject her pleas once more. That was until he turned around again to face her...

Standing next to Rey were R2-D2 and Chewbacca. Artoo rocked side to side excitedly, beeping and booping, and Chewie roared gleefully at seeing an old friend. Rey stood with a smile on her face, a smile of victory. Luke looked down at his lightsaber on the table. He picked it up and was overwhelmed with a sense of familiarity. He ignited the weapon and breathed in heavily. He looked back into the kind, large brown eyes of Rey.

"I am a Jedi, and I'm going to help you."